Returning the way I ca was now impossible; Yang Xiao only had two choices left: either take the recently used elevator, where soone had just died, or climb down the stairs.
A few seconds later, Yang Xiao quickly returned to the elevator, darted inside as soon as the doors opened, pressed the button for the highest floor, the 19th, then swiftly darted out again, standing outside the shuddering, old elevator doors, waiting for them to close. Once the elevator began to ascend, he turned toward the stairs and quietly started to descend.
The "squeak squeak" of the elevator moving away gradually gave Yang Xiao a sense of security, as if so danger was receding from him.
Although he wasn’t sure if this little trick would confuse the ghost, it was still worth trying. The ghost seed to have an obsession with riding the elevator; the one that had co knocking earlier had taken the elevator, and the unfortunate soul living in apartnt 5029 had also died in an elevator, and there might be so unknown connection between these events.
He was on the 5th floor, which wasn’t very high. The stairs in the stairwell were dim and narrow, with a light bulb hanging over each turn by an old black wire, swaying slightly when the wind blew, breaking the light into fragnted shadows. For a mont, Yang Xiao felt as if the hanging bulbs were like hanged ghosts.
The walls, painted with peeling light-green waterproof paint, were clearly long neglected, with black plastic bags piled up in corners occasionally, oozing out foul, rotten water beneath them, their contents unknown.
The uneasy atmosphere was fernting; Yang Xiao couldn’t help but speed up his steps, but suddenly, he paused, hearing a familiar yet bizarre noise.
"Squeak—"
Pupils jumping, Yang Xiao imdiately increased his pace and ran down the stairs. He recognized the sound—it was the sound of an old elevator moving, and the dilapidated elevator he had sent up was now descending, following him.
As he raced out of the stairwell and into the apartnt lobby, the scene outside halted Yang Xiao in his tracks. The world beyond the apartnt doors was shrouded in fog.
The garden square was swallowed by the mist, and the other four towering apartnt buildings had beco re giant shadows, like four crouching beasts, with a few lights occasionally on inside, resembling the half-closed eyes of the beasts.
"Buzz—"
Standing behind the door of the apartnt building, hesitating for just a mont, Yang Xiao heard the sound of the elevator arriving at the first floor behind him, the whirring noise of the doors opening clear to his ears.
It had followed...
Without further hesitation, once he was fairly sure of his direction, Yang Xiao dashed into the fog, heading for his own building, Long Zi No. 41.
He needed to get ho... that might be the only safe place.
With the fog thickening in his vision, and the ground soggy from a recent rain, he ran through the poorly maintained garden. Yet what made Yang Xiao even more nervous was this bizarrely appearing mist, which had a strange sll to it—as if it were the stench of sewer water rising up.
In addition, the fog had a sticky quality to it, and as Yang Xiao ran through it, he left a distorted human-shaped trail in his wake.
"Snap."
"Snap."
"Snap."
Suddenly, Yang Xiao heard footsteps not far in front of him, as if soone else was running. As he stopped, a figure appeared not far to his right, behind a flower bed, also wearing a mask.
Surprisingly, the masked person also paused upon seeing Yang Xiao, hesitated for two seconds, then imdiately turned and ran in another direction; neither greeted the other.
This was the wise choice. Yang Xiao understood that the other person was also afraid to confirm whether he was human or ghost, and so opted for the safest approach, which was to leave quickly.
From just that brief encounter, Yang Xiao vaguely made out the other’s mask; it was Long Zi No. 41.
Yang Xiao also continued on his way, but before he had run 20 ters, he once again heard the sound of footsteps—patter, patter. As the fog parted, Long Zi No. 41 reappeared.
Now it was clear that both were a bit panicked. Yang Xiao pulled out his Human Bone Staff in reflex, and Long Zi No. 41 also slipped his hand inside his clothing, "Are you... are you human or ghost?" Long Zi No. 41 asked tentatively.
"A ghost," Yang Xiao replied without a second thought.
At his words, Long Zi No. 41 seed taken aback, then relieved, as he slowly withdrew his hand and nodded, "Well, good, so am I."
The voice was that of a middle-aged man, tinged with a sense of humor.
"Brother, stop running. Haven’t you realized sothing is wrong with this place? I live in No. 5, but no matter how long I’ve run, I can’t seem to reach it," Long Zi No. 41 panted, his gaze constantly scanning the surroundings.
"It’s ’Ghost Hitting the Wall,’" Yang Xiao said quietly after gazing at the man’s white sports pants, feeling sowhat relieved. "We encountered each other before when we ran in two different directions, yet here we are again. This is not logical."
With the Human Bone Staff in hand, Yang Xiao felt no malice from the man, so it seed that they were both trapped within the ’Ghost Hitting the Wall’ phenonon, and it made more sense to cooperate at this mont.
"Which building do you live in?" Long Zi No. 41 inquired.
"No. 3."
"No. 3?" Hearing this, Long Zi No. 41 seed startled and instinctively stepped back. "What... what room are you in?"
"Why do you need to know all that?" Yang Xiao asked in return.
"Don’t get wrong, I just ca out of No. 3. There’s a dead body in the security room of the lobby, only half of it left," Long Zi No. 41 quickly explained.
If what the man said was true, then another killing had occurred while Yang Xiao was away, and this ghost was proving to be quite efficient.
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